Dorothy Davis

Research Interests

Courses Taught

ATY 100: Contemporary Nonwestern Cultures

ATY 212: Introduction to Anthropology

ATY 213: Cultural Anthropology

ATY 312: The Anthropology of Children

ATY 315: World Ethnographies

Personal Statement

At the beginning of my career, I was interested in the study of human sexuality, reproduction and demographics. I started teaching in 1972. After many years teaching a variety of introductory courses, my research interests have become focused on the pedagogy of anthropology. While undergoing training to become a scuba instructor, I was intrigued by how the education courses were set up to incorporate recent research on how the brain worked. I have since explored this relationship and its application to teaching anthropology classes. Most of my articles and presentations in recent years have reflected this interest in pedagogy. In 2003 I started a new area of research in collaboration with my identical twin sister (also an anthropologist) on issues of identity among twins.

Current Projects

In 2012-13, Mika Cohen Jones and I created and gained approval for a new Learning Community in Anthropology for freshmen. This community integrates the introductory courses in cultural and biological anthropology with a new Integrated Studies Lab (ISL) section focusing on anthropology and science fiction. Our new Learning Community is named the “Apeman to Spaceman Community” and we are teaching it for the first time Fall semester 2013.